“Join a small group of like-minded foodies on a 12 day tour of Vietnam featuring an overnight sleeper train, domestic flight and lots of chances to cook and eat with local people.”

Highlights

Hanoi | Halong Bay | Hue | Hoi An | Ho Chi Minh City | Mekong Delta |

Description of Vietnam small group holiday, a food adventure

Food and Southeast Asia are a marriage made in the street stalls of heaven with a Vietnam small group holiday, a food adventure to be truly rated alongside the best of them.

This is your chance to experience pho, banh khoai, banh xeo and banh canh amongst the ancient architecture and garland garnished streets of Vietnam on a small group food adventure that will take your taste buds to the freshest and most delicious dishes this side of the Mekong.

Café culture, croissants and top notch cooking skills are part and parcel of not only Asia’s culinary legacy but Europe’s too with the combination of French flair and Vietnamese resourcefulness meeting in a magnificent menu of street food markets and open kitchen restaurants.

This Vietnam small group holiday, is a food adventure to dive right into and allows you to chop, cook and eat your way from Hanoi to Hue, Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City, with no end of noodle slurping and specialist spices to be savoured every step of the way.

Hello. If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. Rosy & team.

Food Adventures

What is a small group adventure?
It's a great way to travel! Whether you are travelling on your own, with a partner or with friends, a small group trip is a fantastic way to see the world. You'll travel on a fixed itinerary that has been designed to help you discover the best of region. From the known highlights, the hidden gems that you won't find in the guidebooks.

Itineraries run on set departure dates, accompanied every step of the way by an English speaking local group leader. You chose the itinerary and the date that suits you best and you book on.

Why travel on a small group adventure?
Small groups allow us to explore where larger tour groups can't. Our maximum group size of 16 travellers allows us to use local transport to get from A to B, to visit rural villages, spend time with the locals and even stay at a local home overnight, and it allows us to give our travellers genuine, real life experiences of the countries we are visiting; what you'll be doing and how you'll travel depends entirely on your chosen itinerary.

Is an adventure right for me?
The word adventure means something different to everyone, and our range of trips reflects that. Whether you want to explore local markets, visit out of the way temples and meet local people or go on an early morning safari drive searching for the 'big five', we'll have a trip for you. If you are looking for a physical challenge such trekking the Kokoda Track or summiting Kilimanjaro, we can help with that too.

So what makes a Food Adventure different?
Our focus on these trips is exploring our destination through regional specialities, eating where the locals eat, learning to cook traditional dishes and refreshing your palate with the local tipple! Our usual grass roots style of travel is still very much in evidence and you'll still get to explore a region's highlights as well as more out of the way places under the guidance of your group leader, but there will be a lot of focus on the unique flavours of the region you are visiting.

Can I book my flights with you?
Yes! We are a fully ATOL bonded tour operator meaning that we can book flights from the UK as part of your holiday package. Just ask us for a quote including flights when you make your enquiry.

Responsible tourism

Responsible tourism: Vietnam small group holiday, a food adventure

As a global operator, we take our role in the tourism industry very seriously. We recognise the impact that tourism has on local communities and the environment, and we plan and operate all our tours with this front of our minds. We believe that every tour operator must be responsible in the way they conduct their business, to ensure the welfare of all people and the conservation of the environment.

We are committed to operating in a responsible manner, incorporating the principles of sustainable development in the way we provide our travellers with real life experiences. These values are more than just words on a page; they are ingrained in our culture and the daily operations of every office and every trip. In addition, we expect our staff and travellers to demonstrate the principles of responsible travel - respecting people, cultures and local environments; in the distribution of wealth; in good will and cross-cultural sharing; and in contributing to sustainable development.

We believe that responsible travel is about the attitude you take with you and the choices you make when travelling - to respect and benefit local people, their cultures, economy and the environment. On trips like this through Asia for example, dress standards are conservative, and we recommend loose, lightweight clothing so as not to offend, particularly outside of the major cities.

We take care to use local transport throughout, including sleeper trains and boats. We stay in small, locally owned hotels and guesthouses. This trip includes a stay with local hosts in the Mekong Delta experiencing the unique way of life the region has to offer. You will help cook some local southern Vietnamese dishes before enjoying the feast and learning about the hosts and their agricultural life. We source produce locally throughout the trip, eat at local restaurants and encourage our travellers to purchase souvenirs from local artisans and recruit our on the ground team from the local community. This not only gives a fantastic insight into the country and a snap shot of day to day life, but it also puts valuable financial resources back into the local economy, creating jobs and supporting local businesses. We encourage our travellers to reduce their excess waste using a reduce, re-use and recycle policy. We also in avoidance of animal cruelty never visit places known to use cruel practices in rearing and/or slaughtering of livestock. We also make sure that foods from the endangered species list are not served on the trip.

As a company our responsibilities don’t stop when our tours end. Our own in house foundation has been in operation for over 10 years; a not-for-profit fund that has distributed over AU$3 million to more than 70 non-government organisations since 2002, from health care, education, human rights, child welfare, sustainable development and in environmental and wildlife protection. Donations come from our travellers and are then matched by us dollar for dollar.

Projects supported in Vietnam are the Blue Dragon Children's Foundation which works throughout northern and central Vietnam with the most vulnerable children: street kids, children with disabilities, the rural poor and victims of trafficking. Their main aim is to help kids go to school or receive vocational training in an effort to help them find their way out of poverty. The Children's Hope in Action (CHIA) provides vital health and disability programs and educational services to vulnerable families in Hoi An and surrounding rural areas. CHIA’s holistic Special Education program facilitates the social, physical and intellectual development of children who have motor disabilities and little, or no intellectual impairment. The Cuc Phuong National Park's conservation programs - we're currently supporting the Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC), which has specialised breeding and holding facilities for more than 600 turtles representing around 15 of Vietnam’s 23 native species. In addition to providing educational activities and raising public awareness, a major focus of the TCC’s work involves training of wildlife protection officers. Finally the KOTO Saigon Training Centre provides training in life skills and hospitality to former street children. Trainees at the Saigon centre will go on to work at KOTO's restaurant in the city (to open in 2011). Travellers may also visit the KOTO restaurant in Hanoi, which also provides training opportunities for disadvantaged youth and great food. We also support the non-profit organisation, the Nguyen Nga Centre (in Quy Nhon City) which offers education, training and work placement assistance for disadvantaged people and people with disabilities. We purchases embroidered 'say no to plastic' cloth shopping bags for our travellers and the income to the centre helps to pay their rent.We are proud to be a carbon neutral company. We offset all our global carbon emissions and offer a carbon offset option to passengers booking their flights through us. Through these schemes, significant financial contributions are being made on behalf of our business, suppliers, staff and travellers to internationally certified carbon abatement projects, equating to over AU$1 million since 2007. Since then, we have offset over 45,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. That's equal to approximately the amount of carbon that 2,796,047 trees would absorb over 10 years, or taking over 4,753 passenger cars off the road for an entire year!

We invest in internationally accredited offset projects that are based in our biggest destinations. These projects not only offset our emissions but they also improve the environment of the local communities by providing an alternative to fossil fuels and therefore produce less pollution. Our current project is the Alize Çamseki wind farm in Turkey. The wind turbines produce approximately 82,000 MWh of electricity annually and in doing so prevents 52,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere each year.

2 Reviews of Vietnam small group holiday, a food adventure

3 out of 5 stars

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Reviewed on 10 Apr 2016 by Dima Srouri

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Hoi An

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

The boat in Halong Bay was not comfortable

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

It's generally expensive for the quality of services offered. Some of the food included on the trip was of very cheap quality.

Reviewed on 27 Jun 2015 by valenina giubilei

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Halong Bay on boat

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

To travel with a trolley and not a backpack

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?